The Villanova Wildcats football team will join the Patriot League in 2026, the school announced Thursday.
Villanova will officially join the Patriot League as a football-only member on July 1, 2026. Conference affiliations for all other Wildcats sports teams will not be affected.
“Villanova looks forward to joining the Patriot League next season as an associate member, aligning with institutions that uphold an unwavering commitment to academic and athletic distinction and the holistic development of student-athletes,” said University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD. “This league embodies the finest principles of collegiate athletics, where achievement on the field is matched by excellence in the classroom. We are proud to align with such esteemed institutions, forging a new chapter for Villanova Football.”
Villanova’s other 23 varsity athletics teams will remain members of the their current conferences, primarily the Big East Conference. Women’s rowing competes in the CAA, while women’s water polo is a member of the MAAC.
“This is an exciting day for Villanova as we accept an invitation to join the Patriot League as an associate member for football beginning in 2026,” said Villanova University Vice President and Director of Athletics Eric Roedl. “We have great respect for the institutions that make up a very competitive FCS conference and we share in their strong academic missions. The geographic footprint of the Patriot League is a perfect fit for Villanova, and as we get ready to embark on a new chapter for our football program, we remain committed to competing at the highest levels of the FCS and continuing to add to our accomplished history on the gridiron.”
Villanova has been a member of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) since the 2007 season. Prior to that, the Wildcats competed in the Atlantic 10 Conference from 1997 through 2006.
Villanova’s move to the Patriot League follows longtime conference rivals Richmond, who begins play in the Patriot League this fall, and William & Mary, who will also join in 2026.
With the addition of Villanova, the Patriot League will expand to ten teams in 2026. The Wildcats will join existing members Bucknell, Colgate, Fordham, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, and Richmond, and future member William & Mary. Richmond and William & Mary are also an associate members in football only.
With 10 teams, the Patriot League stated it will continue to “…feature a full conference schedule to determine the League champion and automatic bid to the NCAA DI FCS Championship.” That likely means the league will play a nine-game conference football schedule beginning in 2026.
I am a Fan of Villanova heading to Patriot League.
Go Wildcats!!!
I believe the Reverend called this one
This may be the final major dominoes to fall for CAA football. Now we wait to see how the remaining CAA schools respond notably what Elon, Campbell, and Towson do next. We just may see those aforementioned schools migrating to the SoCon and seeing the Northern schools potential rejuvenate the “Yankee Conference” as a result.
I hope you are right!
It would make sense for America East to grab CCSU, Merrimack, and Sacred Heart as full members which would give them 12 schools for all sports, and eight for football assuming that URI were to leave CAA for AE.
Hey Rev, I agree with you on the end of the CAA, but I don’t see that this is the resurrection of the old Yankee conference. Elon, Campbell, Towson and what’s left of the CAA are not going to compete with MVC and Big Sky teams no matter where they land, but more what I see is that the teams that are migrating to the Patriot aren’t going to stay at that level either. The CAA was on life support when JMU left and Delaware drove the death nail in their coffin.
@JM While my rationale of a Yankee Conference resurrection is said as tongue in cheek ai instead refer it will be an initiative for the remaining northern schools to reorganise and perhaps extend invites to the current Northern independents for football. All this done so as to help reduce travel expenses but also bring back focus for more local-region rivalries rather than the southern exposure they afforded in the CAA previously. This would be marketed perhaps away from FLO and to ESPN and concentrated regional sports networks.
As for the new Patriot members I’m of the opposite feeling, atleast for the next few years, for if those schools wanted to move up to FBS they already would have with the rest of the migrants. If any still have intentions to move up it won’t be until after the FBS sorts itself with the post house settlement landscape and the future of the CFP credits paid out to each conference. And that’s not even considering the capital expenditures ongoing funding finances that will be required to upgrade facilities as part of the transition, even though those potential schools have healthy endowments their athletics budgets are a different story.
Resuscitate UVM football!
@Rev; I don’t disagree with any of that. I feel that Delaware and Missouri State may regret their moves right now and anyone that is still thinking about moving up should maintain course for sure right now.
Also, with the CAA, I feel like it will be a good thing for the MEAC if NC A&T returns. That extra conference game might add some stability, so we don’t see so many lower division games scheduled there. I get that the HBCU schools want to schedule traditional rivals, but some of their schedules make me wonder why they are maintaining. Maybe Hampton goes that way too?
I will be interested to see as well, noting your Yankee Conference reference, where WIlliam & Mary lands in this. It feels like they should follow Richmond and Villanova to the Patriot League, if there is room.
What a soap opera!
@JM W&M actually announced they are joining the Patriot back in April. Which was a bit of a surprise that they a) jumped before Nova and b) had been rumoured to be joining the SoCon. Their move though made Villanova leaving the CAA inevitable.
As for Hampton and NC A&T they are in a very precarious situation and I too am very curious what their next move is as they have several options but with caveats. I don’t think they want to go back to the MEAC as theyve tried to position themselves as not just an HBCU but the prospects of the Celebration bowl and HBCU coverage has greatly improved since they bolted for the Big South and eventually CAA. Maybe they entertain going back to the Big South with Tennessee St as HBCU representatives but that is less than ideal as well. There were rumours earlier in the decade for both schools entertaining joining the SWAC but the travel was a big deterrent, and has probably become a large con since first evaluated. Perhaps they go independent until the UAC pivots and the football conference folds with the WAC or rebrands with focus on the SE region. The only option that really seems off the table would be joining the SoCon.
Chef’s kiss! Great for College Football in the Northeast US.
Love the move
I’m close enough to Holy Cross
Now we have more attractive matchups
This Villanova Wildcats Fan Love the move too John.
Let’s have some fun here. The CAA could be in jeopardy here. It really is a football only conference, ala the MVFC. There are 7 Northeast schools: Bryant, Maine, Monmouth, New Hampshire, Rode Island, Stony Brook, and UAlbany. I could see these leaving to form a new Yankee Conference or perhaps the America East Football Conference, or something completely different. They could get Merrimack and sacred Heart to join and they’d be good to go with 9 members, eight conference games.
That would leave Campbell, Elon, Hampton, NC A&T, and Towson in the CAA. They could merge with the 6-team MEAC to get to 11, or perhaps NC A&T, and Hampton could go back to the MEAC, and the remaining three could join the SoCon, which would give that conference 12 teams.
Looks like FCS schools are going to be required to play 12 games every year if the legislation passes on June 24-25.
I was thinking perhaps Villanova would be interested in a new Northeast based conference, but them going to the Patriot League was a genius move.
While new schools are joining PL football, one that really needs to consider leaving is Georgetown. They continue to be a non-scholarship program, putting them at a competitive disadvantage as everyone else in PL football offers scholarships.
They could see their fortunes improve if they move to the Pioneer Football League, which currently has 11 members which makes scheduling conference games a challenge. Georgetown going to the PFL could allow that league to reinstate divisions for purposes of scheduling, with its teams in the Northeast and Southeast forming the East Division, and its Midwestern teams joined by San Diego in forming the West Division.
Meanwhile, I’m all for Hampton-NSU and NCAT-NCCU becoming conference games again. What I could see happen is those four joining the once-segregated SoCon, along with Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb. Meanwhile, Chattanooga and ETSU migrate to the OVC (where ETSU once competed), whose non-football members all find new homes (Little Rock to the ASUN where it previously competed when the conference was called the TAAC, and Morehead State and SIUE to the Horizon League), while the OVC completes its new 12-team lineup by adding Chicago State, Kentucky State, and Carson-Newman. The OVC also does divisions, its 6 schools north of Tennessee form the North Division and the 6 schools in that state form the South. In turn, UNC Greensboro, which doesn’t sponsor football, returns to the Big South, and the OVC resumes playing football under its own name.
Also, I want Western Carolina to go FBS and join C-USA, The SoCon would then consist of 12 schools that all sponsor football, divided into divisions as such:
North:
Gardner-Webb
Hampton
Norfolk State
North Carolina A&T
North Carolina Central
VMI
South:
Charleston Southern
The Citadel
Furman
Mercer
Samford
Wofford
Z-Man Comments Sucks!!!
Z-Man Comments Sucks!!!
Z-Man Comments Sucks!!!
Please stop spamming the comments section Dan
Z-Man I have no problem with CFB programs changing conferences however I am not enthusiastic of you having proposals where they should go. Teams have control what would be best for them plus FCS programs do not need divisions just like current power conferences even smaller schools likes to play everybody which in my opinion is very fair.
I apologize for spamming on your comments & I guarantee I will not hurt your comments even if I disagree with something.
Enjoy rest of your evening buddy.
Furthermore, with all these membership changes, management of CAA Football could very well pass on to the America East should Merrimack and Sacred Heart join.
It is also possible that CAA Football dissolve as a separate legal entity in favor of the AEC sponsoring football proper (which either way would be the fourth rebranding of the entity formed in 1923 as the New England Conference, subsequently becoming the Yankee Conference in 1947, dropping Olympic sports in 1975, becoming the football league of the Atlantic 10 in 1997, and then the football league of the CAA in 2007), with the following members in two divisions:
Mid-Atlantic:
Albany (AEC full member)
Campbell
Elon
Monmouth
Stony Brook (former AEC full member)
Towson (former AEC full member)
New England:
Bryant (AEC full member)
Maine (AEC full member)
Merrimack (AEC full member)
New Hampshire (AEC full member)
Rhode Island (former AEC full member)
Sacred Heart (AEC full member)
To even the all-sports membership at 12, I could see the AEC going after D-II basketball power Jefferson, as a means of re-entering the Philadelphia market decades after the departure of Drexel.
Hope you are having fun doing it Z-Man.
It’s ok to have educated guesses however do not expect it to happen.
Enjoy yourself Buddy.